THE PRICE OF A PERFECT MAN

  Can you imagine being married and knowing nothing about your partner's finances? Eva Wenanyu was on the streets of Westlands in Nairobi, Kenya when she came across a gentleman who happened to be a photographer. He introduced himself as Antonio Spagnetti from Italy, living in the US and being in Nairobi, Kenya for a few weeks taking pictures. He shared that, he saw Eva and thought that she was very beautiful and wanted to know if she'd be interested in having her picture taken by him. 

 Feeling very touched and a little flattered, Eva said yes, agreed and they had great chemistry, they took a lot of photos and Antonio decided to, you know, let's talk some more, let's get to know each other while I'm here and they exchanged contacts. During Antonio's time in Kenya, they went out, they went on walks, they were talking, getting to know each other and Eva really, really felt there was a connection there, to the point that Antonio extended his stay in Kenya just to spend more time with her.

During one of their date nights, he shared that his full-time day job, he was actually an online trader and was very well known in the fields of cryptocurrency. Eva similarly shared that she rather was in real estate and you know what, was thankfully doing very well for herself. Antonio mentioned that the photography he does and the social media content creation was all part of his psyche and just, you know, a thing he does for enjoyment. 

 Again, they talked and shared and the connection grew until very quickly they were in a very committed relationship. Eva started to love everything about Antonio, from his way of speaking to his little romantic gestures, buying her her favorite flowers, taking her on surprise dates, treating her like the princess she felt like she ought to be. Everything was going so well that Eva spoke about Antonio to her very close friend, Clara. Clara started to feel a little jealous thinking that, you know what, she was also in a relationship but her man wasn't doing what Antonio was doing and Clara started to feel like her relationship was a little inadequate. 

 Six months down the line, Antonio and Eva got married in a private but luxurious event at the Hyatt Hotel. Things were going perfect. Eva felt she had truly hit the jackpot and that her life was going so well. A few days after their marriage, Antonio sat Eva down and said, look, I believe in transparency. I believe what is mine is yours and what is yours, it is ours. So I've created a bank account, a joint account for the both of us. I am downloading the app on your phone and I've put in five million dollars.

You can also add your cash and this will be just money for you to spend, for you to take care of yourself, for you to do everything you need. We both have access to it but you will get notifications if I ever withdraw money. Eva said, wow, somebody has married her, has taken care of her and even giving access to money, like nothing could be better. So of course, Antonio set up all the details, all the accounts and Eva, trusting him and believing that, you know, this was making sense, also put in all her savings into that very same account.

Coming from a real estate background, she had a nice little nest egg of three hundred thousand dollars. Antonio reassured Eva saying that, you know what, live your best life. I'm here in this relationship, in this marriage. We are going to grow together. Two weeks later, Antonio has a quick conversation with Eva saying, oh my darling, I need to go on a trip to the States. I have some meetings I need to attend but I will be back shortly. Eva was like, fine. So far has been living wedded bliss. She's been shopping, she's been going out, she's been having a great time and though she will miss Antonio, she's sure he's coming back.

So Antonio leaves and the first few days were hard for Eva but with the help of FaceTime, they spoke on a regular basis. And then came some sad news. Antonio shared that his house in Atlanta had been broken into and they had robbed him. So he said, Eva, my darling baby girl, heads up, I'm going to be taking a chunk of money from the account but don't worry, once I come back to Kenya, I'll put everything back and I just need to have this issue sorted out. Eva was like, yeah, cool, no problem. And true to his word, she receives an alert that Antonio has removed $280,000 from the account.

Eva says, that's fine, I still have money inside, I can still go about places and he'll reimburse it when he comes back. Now, two days later, Eva's not heard anything from Antonio. His calls aren't going through, his texts aren't going through, he's basically fallen off the face of the earth. So after a few more days of panic, she goes to social media, posts a picture of Antonio and says, guys, please, I can't find my husband, I'm scared something has happened to him, he's just vanished. And with the power of social media, somebody sends her a DM.

Some random lady texts her and says, if I think this is who it is, I would advise you to go to your bank, the bank itself, find out how much money is in your accounts. Don't look at the app on your phone, go straight to the bank, find out exactly how much is in your account. Once you do that, come back and text me. Eva, perplexed, but you know what, a lead is a lead. Upon finding out that all that is left in her account is $58 and 70 cents. At that point, she breaks down. She's eventually escorted out of the bank from all of her wailing and crying and shouting at the bank tellers.

And in her dejected mood, goes back home, texts the person, goes, my money is gone. What is going on? Explain yourself. The lady on the other side says, well, sorry to tell you that the guy in question that you're looking for is actually a scam artist. He's done this to my sister. And when he was with my sister, he had a child with her and he went by the name Francisco. Upon hearing that, Eva was like, no, no, no, no, it is not me. It is not my portion. I will not accept. She quickly borrows money. First flight out of there. She's headed to Atlanta, Georgia in the USA.

She arrives and immediately goes to the police station and files a complaint. The police inform her that they do know who you're looking for, but he is a well-known scam artist who has a habit of falsely marrying rich women and stealing their money and taking them for all their worth. On top of that, the person in question that she's looking for is not named Antonio. He's not named Francisco. His real name is Raphael.

They eventually tell her that, unfortunately, this guy has been on their radar, but he's very good. He has left no trace to be tracked by and the money he's stolen from her is gone. With her life in complete shambles, Eva decides to return back to Nairobi, completely broken and destitute. She calls up her friend Clara and says, look, Clara, all that glitters is not gold. Can you imagine this is what happened when I got there? This is what they told me. This is who he is. Only to find out that Antonio had already set eyes on his next victim and that person was Clara.

Thank you so much for reading👄